Republican Ken Blackwell: Too Many Coincidences with Diebold for Comfort

According to an article by Mark Niquette, it was reported on the front page of the Columbus Dispatch this morning, April 4, 2006, that Republican Candidate for Ohio Governor, Ken Blackwell, currently serving as Ohio Secretary of State, disclosed that he’d sold his 178 shares of Diebold Stock only yesterday.

Diebold sells voting machines, folks.

Now, in my opinion, there are some coincidences that I’ve noticed over the last year and a half of reading the papers and watching the local news that I need to point out:

Coincidence CEO of Diebold, Walden O’Dell, hosted a $1000 a plate dinner to benefit Republican Bush’s 2004 reelection campaign. The invitations asked each attendee to donate or raise up to $10,000 each for the State GOP. Some of that money eventually will fall back out of the GOP’s pockets and into Blackwell’s campaign fund for his gubernatorial election campaign.

Coincidence As Republican Ohio Secretary of State, Blackwell recommended Diebold as the company to tabulate the 2004 Ohio election results

Coincidence Ken Blackwell qualified Diebold as one of three companies eligible to sell voting machines to Ohio for the 2004 elections

Coincidence This just happens to be the deadline for filing financial statements for the Ohio May primaries. This is also the first reporting period since Republican Gov. Bob Taft and four former members of his administration were convicted of various crimes last year. And before you start screaming bias, The Dispatch has a track record of supporting most Republican candidates and their issues.

Coincidence Republican Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell filed a directive in January of 2005 stating that he’d closed a “best in the nation” deal for Diebold voting machines, resulting in a lawsuit filed by rival venders and several Ohio counties.

Coincidence The Director of Franklin County Board of Elections is quoted as saying that former Diebold contractor Pasquale Gallina has bragged of donating $50,000 to Republican Ken Blackwell’s “political interests”. And while Blackwell denies that, oddly enough, Diebold said they were unaware of Gallina’s activites, coming just short of confirming it.

Coincidence Leading up to the 2004 elections, Republican Ohio Secretary of State Blackwell was accused of providing only 1 or 2 voting machines in areas most likely to fall to John Kerry, causing well-documented and publicized long and discouraging polling lines However, he assigned as many as 6 or more machines in lightly-populated rural areas where Bush was more likely to get votes.

I know what conclusions I’d draw from this, but they’re only my opinion

Jet thanks for a very informative article..I think Blackwell and Mrs Harris from Fl should team up ..They both know how to screw the Democrats..

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

Thanks Georgio, sorry about mispelling Coincidencess, I’m waiting to see how much fur flys. The poor cat should be bald on it’s right side by morning

Jet

Georgio

I never read your stuff before but after I seen your comments in the other thread I made a mental note as someone who is intelligent and level headed..I look forward to everything you have to say..

http://www.elitistpig.com Dave Nalle

One might argue that Blackwell’s ownership of Diebold stock was a statement of his confidence in the quality of product they produce.

On the other hand, their stock has performed fairly poorly over the last few years. He would have been a lot better off selling it last summer when it was about 15% higher than it is now. Not knowing when he acquired it I can’t be sure, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he took a loss on the Diebold stock.

In addition, comprehensive studies have shown that no fraud actually took place with the Diebold machines in Ohio. I refer you to this definitive CalTech/MIT study of the 2004 vote and the role voting machines played in it.

Dave

Georgio

No fraud took place Dave but the smell is there just like Harris from FL and Tom Delay

gonzo marx

in another Thread about Diebold i had posted a link to an article from Wired that showed the results of a college student able to effortlessly hack the system to make the voting machine produce ANY results desired…

examples were pressing for candidate “a” while the tabulation was for candidate “b”

that was the simplest, another was the ability to weigh the percentages of tabulations to turn out with whatever results were desired based on initial variables set

also the ease of which all traces of said programming coudl be wiped , either at a predetermined time/date or by command from within the console

plenty more, and the link no longer works, but anyone subscribed to Wired online can find it

just another piece to add

Excelsior!

http://www.elitistpig.com Dave Nalle

The fact that the potential for hacking was there doesn’t mean that it happened. There’s no evidence that those loopholes were used by anyone to skew the vote. And as we discussed before long ago, even if every possible disputed vote were switched to Kerry then the Ohio vote still would have gone to Bush.

Dave

RedTard

I don’t see why it is so hard to create a reliable voting system. Anyone with 2 brain cells could think for 5 minutes and come up with a near foolproof system. The fact that most systems are crap makes me wonder if people in power really want that at all.

Try adding one of those $30 credit card receipt printers onto the machine and a $100 ATM style surveillance camera (machines cost a ridiculous $4500 now). You have a copy of your vote with signature, the state has a hard copy with signature, your ugly mug is also there for independent review in case dead people come back to cast ballots.

The results are then posted publicly online or in publications where practical. You check your receipt against the public list to verify your vote counted as cast. System is next to foolproof.

Now if only I had industry connections and paid the new Jack Abramoff enough money I could start the next Diebold.

gonzo marx

Red makes an excellent point, Diebold attempted to insist that no paper trail could be implemented, but the motherboard of the machine has a printer port inside it, so the diagnostic tech can have paper receipts of his checks

the other thing that rings alarms in this tech’s head is the insistance by Diebold that ONLY their techs could be present when the machines were opened or programmed…the FEC had NO chance to check things or even observe procedures

also note that the basic motherboard is the
SAMe one used in Diebold ATM machines, which keep a perfectly accurate paper trail of billions of dollars of transactions a day…

just some more inconvenient facts

Excelsior!

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

Thanks for the techno info guys.

One of the other points I was trying to make is that Blackwell still has live connections to Diebold, I mean he only sold that stock yesterday.

You’re right Dave, according to the article he did lose money, but my point in mentioning it was that he didn’t sell it until yesterday, when he was required to list the ownership in his financial statement.

As for the “lost” votes going to Kerry, and Bush still winning, I was discarding that, and because of the reports that in some precincts, Bush actually got more votes (as much as twice) than there were registered voters for that precinct, I’d become a little suspicious. An investigarion turned up “software problems”

Hmmmmmm.

Another controversy had to do with Blackwell in his position of power, -not to mention being Co-chair of the Bush campaign-striking down a move, whereby voters could vote at the nearest poll station to where they worked. In Ohio, you can actually be taxed both by the city you work in and the city you live in, so by rights you should be able to vote in one or the other location -taxation without representation and all that. Blackwell was all for the change in voter rules, until he was told that most people who wanted to take advantage of it, worked in factories far from their homes, thus they’d be less likely to vote after work, and since most union members are democrat, it was a win win for his side.

thanks for the responses guys
I appreciate it
Jet

Dave Nalle

I do think the distribution of machines is the single most questionable action in the Ohio election, but even that has been pretty successfully explained based on prior voter turnout in those precincts, all of which had substantially higher than normal turnout compared to previous elections.

Dave

http://www.futonreport.net/ Matthew T. Sussman

What’s funny is the following year Lucas County (Toledo) was quite late in tallying their election results and didn’t get them out until early next morning.

And as if it mattered, both mayoral candidates were Democrats. But I think Pat Buchanan won a council seat.

http://www.elitistpig.com Dave Nalle

Red makes an excellent point, Diebold attempted to insist that no paper trail could be implemented, but the motherboard of the machine has a printer port inside it, so the diagnostic tech can have paper receipts of his checks

This was entirely because Diebold had contracted to provide the machines at a specific price and that price didn’t include printers. The state didn’t want to negotiate a new contract at a similarly inflated price for retrofitting the machines with printers and they ended up at a stand-off. IMO Diebold are scumsuckers. The real crime in this whole thing is Diebold’s profiteering.

the other thing that rings alarms in this tech’s head is the insistance by Diebold that ONLY their techs could be present when the machines were opened or programmed…the FEC had NO chance to check things or even observe procedures

Are you sure this is correct? Election observers were present during maintenance in at least a couple of documented cases. They were the ones who raised concerns about the activities of one of the maintenance guys which later proved to be a misunderstanding.

Dave

gonzo marx

those incidents were post election….check the contracts, the terms Diebold insisted upon were clearly stated as well as objected to by minor FEC officials who were over ruled

Excelsior!

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

All true, but would he have sold his stock last monday if he didn’t have to list it on his statement?

If he was losing money on the stock, (which he was) why was he holding on to it, unless it was to hold on to his influence with the company?

As I’m sure Dave is well aware of in his own research, the CEO of Diebold pledged in public to deliver Ohio to George Bush, and possibly to Ken Blackwell-NOW THE SECOND HALF OF THAT IS SPECULATION ON MY PART.

I’m emphasizing what’s going on now, and asking about Blackwell’s character, based on this research.

The man owes a lot to Diebold, Diebold owes a lot to him for millions of dollars of business to the State of Ohio, that he as Secretary of State authorized.

That the Diebold Company was, and probably still is welded to the Republican Party in Ohio and probably nationwide, is a given, but a side issue.

I’m speaking to his unwillingness to unload a losing stock he’d owned since just after the November elections of 2004, until he absolutely had to, then claiming he had absolutely no knowledge of even owning stock in a company that produced the very machines that are possibly going to elect him!

According to my research, the stock (178 shares) was purchased just after the 2004 elections (Coincodence?) at $53.67 a share for $9,553.

Now someone tell me please how Blackwell didn’t (as he claims) know that purchase was made, if not through his accountant, then at least through his buddies he was so chummy with at Diebold?
All the while negotiating deals for machines from that very company?

He sold 95 shares of the stock sometime last year, but I can’t find out when, maybe Dave Nalle has found it in his research, but they were sold at a loss for $15.68 a share, and the remaining shares were sold last Monday for $12.41 a share.

Now as intelligent as Blackwell is, you’d think he’d have canned his financial advisor for such a lousy deal, and sticking with it for so long.

Or, you can wonder what the purpose was for holding onto a stock so long at a loss, if it wasn’t to have influence with Diebold for as long as he could possibly get away with, until he absolutely HAD to get rid of it.

I leave you to your own conclusions

…but that’s only my opinion

http://www.elitistpig.com Dave Nalle

All true, but would he have sold his stock last monday if he didn’t have to list it on his statement?

He should have. Whether he would have or not is debatable. I would have sold that crap stock a year ago if I had it.

If he was losing money on the stock, (which he was) why was he holding on to it, unless it was to hold on to his influence with the company?

Believe me, $7000 in stock doesn’t give you any kind of say in how a multimillion dollar business is run. Last I checked Steve Jobs wasn’t taking my calls just because I own some shares of Apple and Pixar.

As I’m sure Dave is well aware of in his own research, the CEO of Diebold pledged in public to deliver Ohio to George Bush, and possibly to Ken Blackwell-NOW THE SECOND HALF OF THAT IS SPECULATION ON MY PART.

That statement was made as a private citizen at a fundraising event and clearly had nothing to do with rigging the voting machines. He happens to be a politically active Republican, and was speaking in that context.

I’m emphasizing what’s going on now, and asking about Blackwell’s character, based on this research.

The man owes a lot to Diebold, Diebold owes a lot to him for millions of dollars of business to the State of Ohio, that he as Secretary of State authorized.

And was legally enjoined from profiting from. I have to wonder if he wasn’t violating state regulations just by owning Diebold stock in the first place. I know that would be an ethics violation here in Texas.

According to my research, the stock (178 shares) was purchased just after the 2004 elections (Coincodence?) at $53.67 a share for $9,553.

Well, if he purchased it after the election, then Diebold was no longer an active state contractor so it was probably legal for him to buy the stock.

All the while negotiating deals for machines from that very company?

The election being over and the machines already being bought, wasn’t this no longer an issue?

He sold 95 shares of the stock sometime last year, but I can’t find out when, maybe Dave Nalle has found it in his research, but they were sold at a loss for $15.68 a share, and the remaining shares were sold last Monday for $12.41 a share.

Huh? Where do those figures come from? Diebold hasn’t been under $40 a share in like 2 years.

Or, you can wonder what the purpose was for holding onto a stock so long at a loss, if it wasn’t to have influence with Diebold for as long as he could possibly get away with, until he absolutely HAD to get rid of it.

I understand how this argument is appealing, but you really, really need to own more than a couple of hundred shares to have any influence in a company. In the case of Diebold my guess would be that he’d need at least 10,000 shares to get anyone to pay attention to him.

Dave

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

The stock prices are culled from yesterday’s front page article of the Columbus Dispatch sir.

http://www.elitistpig.com Dave Nalle

What threw me off there was this line, Jet:

the remaining shares were sold last Monday for $12.41 a share.

What you meant to write there was “the remaining shares were sold last Monday for a loss of $12.41 a share”

Dave

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

WAIT WAIT WAIT, I was wrong, I miss read it, they were sold a a loss OF, not FOR. Prices per share weren’t listed, only what he sold them at a loss of…
My bad!!!!
I’m wrong!!!
Thanks Dave. They were sold at a loss of the the amount of the prices listed, not at the prices listed.

sorry, and thanks again

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

Dave, if you don’t already have it, I’d be happy to scan and e-mail you a copy of the article so you can use it for your own research

Jet
and thanks again

http://www.elitistpig.com Dave Nalle

No problem, I found the article and quickly determined that you had made a small but vital typo.

I also found some other interesting info on the Dispatch site. I didn’t realize the Diebold was an Ohio based company. That makes giving them the contract for the machines a lot more innocent than it seems otherwise, because a lot of states try to favor local companies in contracts.

Dave

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

All true, thanks again. I think you’ll like my new post on comedy scenes, check fresh comments. It’s a series of about 10 I’ll be doing, then go onto drama and sci fi.
Politics isn’t really my specialty, though I’m rather opinionated about some things.

My main concern is how cozy Blackwell is with Diebold, how he favored them repeatedly, spawning lawsuits, and his timing regarding unloading the stock.

thanks again my friend.

For all of you distracted by all this please go back to comment 15, and Dave Nalle’s response on 16.

…and thank you for your support.
now go by a wine coller

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

Excuse me-cooler

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

#21, thanks for keeping me honest…

Nancy

Don’t any of these shenanigans come under the heading “conflict of interest”? Of course the entire Ohio administration is Republican, but even so there must be SOME GOP members with a sense of legalities & honor…?

I believe in the tooth fairy, too, obviously.

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

All’s fair in love and politics, Nancy, all’s fair in love and politics… unless you get caught

gonzo marx

ya know Jet…the only one’s i ever hear using that particular phrase…

are the one’s that are cheating…

just an Observation…

Excelsior!

Bliffle

One would think that such a close relationship between Blackwell and Diebold would raise sufficient doubt in voters minds to preclude his election, whether it is formally actionable or not.

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

True, but as I’ve said, with leftover funds from the Bush fundraiser, and $50,000 contributions from people like former Diebold contractors, he has the funds to run one hell of a negative counter campaign against Jim Petro

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

Also, let’s not forget that Taft isn’t re-running for governor because of his guilty plea and confictions of some of his staff, and the scandal of the Ohio Workman’s comp fund being mishandled and “somehow” some of it winding up being syphoned into the Bush reelection campaigned, which Nies is on trial for now.

Jet

Baronius

1) Ken Blackwell is running for office in Ohio. Diebold is based in Ohio. It should be no surprise that executives of a major Ohio corporation are donating to a candidate.

3) Diebold is the largest manufacturer of voting machines, a product that makes up about 2% of their total revenue. It’s not odd that Ohio would purchase Diebold machines.

—

Blackwell is leading in the polls. The Democratic Party relies on its base of black voters, and regularly accuses the Republican Party of racism. The Democrats can’t afford to lose this race. It’s going to get ugly.

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

1) Blackwell owned stock up until Monday in Diebold, and so he shouldn’t have been doing state business with them. Ethics and all that

2) If he owned only one share of stock in it, it’d make no difference, he was getting contributions from Diebold contractors and executives to the tune of $50,000 chunks, then turning around and giving that company business on behalf of the State of Ohio

3) Not if you don’t take into account that other manufacturers had competitive or lower bids and are in the process of suing over his giving Diebold preferencial treatment…possibly because he unethically owned stock in that company.

Blackwell is leading in the polls because nearly every other preferred Republican candidate has droped out of the race because of one scandal or another, so he’s got tops in the polls by default.

….but of course that’s only my opinion

http://www.elitistpig.com Dave Nalle

I think it’s nice to see how far an African American can come that he can now be just as much a target of accusations of corruption as he he would be if he were white. Or at least if he were a white republican. If he were a black democrat and someone said these things about him they’d be accused of racism instantly.

Dave

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

Normally I’d agree, but I doubt if I’m being racist, as my grandfather on my father’s side (whom I loved a lot) was black.

Also when this whole thing began, I was just reading newspapers, and not watching TV reports, so I’d formed my opinion before I knew his race.

Actually when I found out he was black, I gained a little respect, knowing what he must’ve had to go through to get as far as he had, especially in the republican party.

Nevertheless, he’s still go a lot of coincodences he’s got to answer to with the people of Ohio.

…but of course that’s only my opinion.

Thanks for your input, and check out my less serious material-parts 1-3 have now been posted!
Jet

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

NEWS FLASH! Political hypocrisy this time, not coincidences!

Now before I start, let me tell you that it was announced today that Ken Blackwell, is putting his investments into a blind trust, in which he won’t be informed about them. That of course means that he knew about the following investments up to today…

Perusing his reported investment, we find this little nugget. Blackwell owns stock in International Game Technology! Why is that so odd? Ken Blackwell as one of his election platforms, as strictly opposed putting gambling machines in Ohio’s horse racing tracks!

Guess who has been named as the manufacturer of choice, should the initiative pass? You got it, IGT. Who would authorize those machines as Ohio’s Secretary of State? You got it! Ken Blackwell.
Ohio’s Attorney General states there’d be a conflict of interest, but Blackwell’s not worried, he’s campaigning against them. Win or lose, Blackwell comes out on top!

Hmmm… now stay with me here.

Ken Blackwell as one of his campaign points, opposes abortion or birth control. Gee, that’s odd, he owns stock in a little company called Bart Pharmaceuticals. Guess what they make? The controversial Plan B, the “morning after pill”.

Corruption is cute. Look how far the black man has come. Now he can be just as venal and self-serving as any white man.

Dave

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

True, but if he was white, he’d be in jail by now, or at least under more investigation than he is.

…but of course that’s only my opinion

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

Dave, out of curiousity, why do you keep bringing up his race any way? I never mentioned it in the original article?

http://www.elitistpig.com Dave Nalle

Blackwell’s race is on my mind because it’s a major element of an article I’m working on. Plus I think it’s somewhat relevant to point out that corruption crosses both race and party lines.

Dave

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

I look forward to reading it.
Thanks for clearing that up…
Jet

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

You do realise that I picked Bill Clinton’s book so you’d have to look at it everytime you clicked on this post don’t you?

Look how well it kept the Arch con away!

jasper

i wouldn’t put too much stock in the MIT debunk.

blackwell is a member of the council of foreign relations. in case you didn’t know, those folks tend to look after one another—it’s the “good ol’ boys” system.

considering how much interest the us has in such institutions as MIT, one could imagine a study being published that would discredit us crazy folk who believe foul play is at hand.

which still doesn’t explain voter turnout percentages as low as 7% in democratic districts and over 100% in republican districts.

or flyers being spread around inner-city neighborhoods saying that republicans vote on tuesday and democrats vote on wednesday.

face it folks, 2000 & 2004 were both stolen. 2006 will probably be stolen by blackwell in ohio.

unless everybody goes to the primary and gets a republican ballot and chooses petro.

then hopefully we can find a decent democratic candidate and write his/her name in come november.

i’d much rather get stuck with strickland than blackwell, though.

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

thanks for the insight Jasper

It’s much appreciated
Jet

http://www.elitistpig.com Dave Nalle

The MIT/CalTech report is mediculously documented, and both universities have faculties dominated by the left. This isn’t a report from Liberty Baptist or someshuch.

Anyone who thinks 2004 was stolen is just paranoid. 2000 is debatable, but even Al Gore acknowledges the outcome was close enough to fair, and despite all his flaws, I have some faith in Gore’s honesty.

Dave

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

…and thank you Dave for presenting the flip side of the coin.

Much appreciated.
Jet

http://www.elitistpig.com Dave Nalle

We may have to appoint Jet as the new ‘goodwill ambassador’ for BC.

Dave

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

Nahhhh, I just do it to put as many comments on my posts as I can. I could care less about this, just ask Roger

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

Dave Nalle? When will we see YOUR slant on this? I’m falling off the left end of my desk here and I need you to pull me back to center!

http://www.elitistpig.com Dave Nalle

My article which looks at Blackwell is coming along slowly, but it has little or nothing to do with this issue, which I think is basically irrelevant.

Dave

Nancy

Jet, comment #43: fell out of my chair laughing at that one!

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

Thanks Nancy #51, As you can see it’s still working! It must be like the sign of the cross is to vampires or something.

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

Oh good, I like feeling irrelevant

Dave Nalle

It’s not that you’re irrelevant, so much as that the thesis of this article is irrelevant to what I’m writing about. But that’s okay.

Dave

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

The questions about this man’s character are very relevant, so I just asssumed it was me.

Paranoid; aren’t I?

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

Okay, now that I’m coming down from my pain medications, let me try a rewrite on my comment #53 again.

That picture works really well, doesn’t it? I put it up there just to torture Dave Nalle with it, and it’s working against Arch the conman like a crucifix against a vampire!

On my next article, I’m going to see if I can find one with Bill Maher on it, or John Kerry, or maybe even Al Gore!!

ha ha

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

Oh Daaaaaaave. I think Aunt Mollie’s still waiting for you to “whitewash” ole Kenny! What’s taking so long?

zkar24

Blackwell’s race is the last thing he needs to worry about. He is part of one of the most corrupt political parties we’ve seen in a long time. Owning $10,000 in stock wasn’t what got him influence at Diebold it was the fact that he owned stock and is the Secretary of State. What disturbs me most about this whole thing is that the CEO of Diebold is such a strong supporter of the republican party. He may have made those statements as a private citizen but the next day he went back to work for the company that made the voting machines.

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

zkar24: Very true, and the most frustrating thing of all is that we can only sit and watch, and have no real power to do anything about it.

Thanks for your contribution

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

Well, It looks like Ken Blackwell won the primary for governor… now will Jim Petro stand behind him after such a dirty campaign?

http://somethingaboutchelsea.blogspot.com Chelsea Snyder

As a technical citizen of Ohio (in that my insurance is still on my parents because I “still live with them,” according to the insurance company), I’m going to go out on a limb and say I will be really surprised if a Republican is elected governor. With all this bullhonky about Tom Noe and Taft & Co.’s role in the whole disaster, I think a LOT of Ohio is getting fed up with Buckeye Conservatives. I forget right off hand what the ratio is, but Ohio isn’t an extremely red state. It’s more of a chartreuse, if I do say so. (I don’t know what color chartreuse is, but it is fun to say.)

So there you have it. I wouldn’t put it past Ohio to elect a Democrat as governor.

Back to sobbing silently as I study for finals …

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

Dear Chelsea:62, You’re right, but the problem is that Ohio is a huge college state, especially around Cleveland, Kent, Akron and Columbus. College students, being more educated, tend to be more liberal. The problem is they tend not to vote during November, and most of them live out of state, leaving us with the “old guard”.

For instance, though our Capital Columbus is considered one of the bastians of Republicanism, the students usually get involved with local politics, thus we have a Democratic Mayor because they go out and campaign for him.

Good luck with your finals…

If you’re at Ohio State, and this is your first year, beware of the Afro-American Campus celebration. The students are great, the celebration is great, but nonstudent trouble makers from the hood selling drugs always spoil things by starting fights and campus turns into a police state for a mile in all directions.

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

Can someone explain why nonstudent with a dash between non and student is considered a banned word??? Try it, type a hyphen with no spaces between non and student and hit Preview????

http://somethingaboutchelsea.blogspot.com Chelsea Snyder

Jet — Trust me, I know all about the Ohio college life. I went to an Ohio state college (not OSU) for two years and transferred to Purdue here in Indiana — my social life at the Ohio school was great (sorority life, ahhh…) but my education sucked. I couldn’t be happier here in Indiana. I’m sure I’ll regret that statement five years from now.

Anywho, I think you’re wrong about college-age indifference toward politics, and it seems like you contradict yourself, stating that we don’t vote, but then demonstrating the Dem. mayor in Ohio because of the college votes. On both college campuses I have been on, I have seen a lot of political activism for both sides and every party in between. One of my good friends is actually an opposition researcher for a congressional candidate. I don’t think “my” generation (that is, college students) should be underestimated. There is strength in numbers, and like Howard Beale says in Network (best movie ever), “First you gotta get mad.”

(And PS, I live out of state but vote in Ohio. Indiana’s voting system sucks and it requires voters to declare Republican or Democrat, and I refuse to label myself. Glad to be an independent in Ohio.)

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

No no, Chelsea, I meant that they CAMPAIGN for the mayor because he effects them most in the hear and now and local, but don’t really turn out here for national elections… either that or they go home to vote.

Anyway, we’ve got Blackwell to deal with. Unfortunately the dirt’s coming out on him now, instead of in November, and voters have a short memory.

alas

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

Chelsea, Dave Nalle said he’d been planning to do an article on Blackwell and to be fair, I’d like to see the other side of the argument, especially since there’s now a chance he could wind up Ohio’s next governor.

gonzo marx

yer gonzo on the job…Update on the bullshit surrounding thye Diebold machines…

i’ve said it here, and on other threads about the machines, but to follow will be two nice links from experts with even MORE technical evidence that they are not only pieces of shit machines we should not trust to something as important as our Votes…

but that their systems are deeply flawed…so deep, that it is close to impossible to not think that the security holes are not on purpose….no engineer or even technician who has seen the schematics ot software woudl be unAware of the flaws, or how to exploit them….they are THAT blatant…

Gonzo #68 The sinister part of this is that Blackwell’s office has been advertising that one of the beneifts of his being Secretary of State is that more and more precincts are going over to Electronic Voting machines.

Why do I suddenly fear that the Ohio Governor’s race in November is a forgone coclusion?

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

BLACKWELL IS NOW FIGHTING HIS OWN PARTY OVER A BALLOT INITIATIVE THAT HE AS SECRETARY OF STATE AUTHORIZED!

Rather that reword it or give my opinion of it, I’ll just give it to you straight from the Columubs Dispatch…Bold and italics are mine

GOP hopes to ditch TEL to benefit Blackwell

Saturday, May 13, 2006

Jim Siegel and Mark Niquette
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Republican lawmakers are exploring ways to make a measure limiting government spending disappear from the November ballot while allowing J. Kenneth Blackwell to save face on the signature proposal of his gubernatorial campaign.
Although Blackwell continues to insist the state needs a constitutional amendment to restrict government spending, he will consider other options that achieve the same objective, spokesman Carlo LoParo said yesterday.
“He’s willing to listen to discussion from legislative leaders regarding other vehicles that will accomplish controlling government spending so Ohio can control taxes and create jobs,” he said.

The proposed Tax and Expenditure Limitation, or TEL, amendment would restrict state and local government spending increases to 3.5 percent per year or the combined rate of inflation plus population growth, whichever is greater.It has been heavily criticized by an array of state and local elected officials, university presidents and educators who say its poor wording could have a devastating effect, particularly on local governments.

Amid growing grass-roots opposition, Republicans also fear the amendment could hurt Blackwell’s chances of defeating Democrat Ted Strickland in November.
GOP legislative leaders are discussing a way to give the four-member committee that submitted TEL amendment petitions the power to rescind the issue, even though Blackwell, the Ohio secretary of state, already has certified it for the November ballot.

Senate President Bill M. Harris said he’s unsure how they would do that, but lawyers are investigating.
“At this point, if there is a way we can find to help remove the TEL from the ballot, I think we ought to do that,” the Ashland Republican said.
“That’s one of the discussions — what can you provide that would take that off of the ballot and give the secretary of state satisfaction that it was done the right way.”

Some argue that the issue committee, which includes close Blackwell supporters such as Akron millionaire and school-choice leader David Brennan, already has the power to pull the amendment. But other election-law experts disagree.

Blackwell’s opposition to removing the amendment from the ballot without an alternative that accomplishes the same objectives could pave the way for a GOP bill to limit state government spending. Such a measure would force Democrats to go on the record and vote for or against a spending limitation — vote that could be used against them in fall legislative campaignsa.
Sen. Jeff Jacobson, R-Vandalia, who has unsuccessfully tried to push spending limitations in the past, said he has submitted ideas for an alternative TEL plan that could be passed into law instead of being put into the constitution.

A future legislature could change a law much more easily than a constitutional amendment.
But not all Republicans see the need to pass a spending restriction.

“If the TEL comes off the ballot, I question the need for an alternative to replace it,” said Rep. Larry L. Flowers, R-Canal Winchester. “The people need to hold their elected officials responsible for spending.”

House Speaker Jon A. Husted, R-Kettering, repeatedly has said there is a chance the amendment would not be on the ballot.
Scott Borgemenke, his chief of staff, said the House is still trying to figure out what options are available, and what is even possible. He said it will be difficult to accomplish anything before lawmakers head back home in two weeks, though they might return for a few days in early August.
“I have found that more people have an opinion than have facts to back up that opinion,” Borgemenke said.
Meanwhile, a legal effort continues to challenge enough of the petition signatures to knock the issue off the ballot. A hearing on that matter is set for June 9.
But if that effort succeeds, Citizens for Tax Reform still would have 10 days to collect additional signatures to place the issue back on the ballot.

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

Gonzo, I checked out your links-thanks for providing them. A real eye-opener folks!

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

I wonder if Blackwell somehow manipulated the results in Ohio, not to effect the outcome, but to make Ohio appear more important of a state than it really is, and could the Secretary of State in Florida have done the same thing?

Just make the results look “Too close to call” long enough for all the other states to come in, and then release the “tie breaker”?

Hmmmmmm

Solus mei sententia
Jet

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

ArchBingBat asked if the only thing I write about has to do with sexual orientation, Hmmmmmmmm?

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

ATTENTION all authors on this site. This article has been reproduced on another site word for word without my name on it, retitled and with Forrest from Oregon on it. See pings one and two

Anyone who might know how to get in touch with whoever’s in charge of Tribe.net BlogCritics or can give advice post here.

I’ve tried but their site is now down for maintance right after I read the article.

Thank you

http://www.diablog.us Dave Nalle

Interesting, Jet. Looks like the site’s been taken offline.

Dave

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

Can someone explain to me what the hell a ping is? I’ve heard from Lisa and she was helpful, but it seems as the site went down as soon as I read the Ping and saw the article wasn’t attibuted to me.

I’ve also clicked on the “contact us” with no results. I was hoping one of us was a member there too, and had a backdoor e-mail address I could send to the editors…

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

The Plagarist was caught…
Hi Jet,

Thanks for writing in, and I am very sorry that one of our members re-posted your article in its’ entirety, without permission.

(He did post a link to your entry at the end of his post, however we are not condoning his actions, and posting copyrighted

content without express permission from the author/copyright holder is a violation of our Terms/Code of Conduct.)

We have removed both posts in question, and this user has been issued a Terms of Use violation warning. I am very sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.

If you have any additional questions at all, please feel free to reply to this message.

after a year of study, it had been found these things are even easier to hack than had been thought

it can be done anytime the machine is running, using only the infra-red “beaming” mode of networking with a fucking Palm Pilot

so much for “cost savings”…there is NO need for such a receiver inthese machines, especially when it makes them completely vulnerable to anyone walking by with a Palm Pilot

loudobbs.com has the details of the study…impeccabel credentials for the scientists..and unarguable results

just sharing

Excelsior?

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

Thanks Gonzo-the following should raise the hair on the back of your neck-from Florida’s The Ledger…

Nothing To Worry About?
Several state legislators filed bills this year — to no avail — to require that touchscreen voting machines have the capability of producing a paper record of votes cast.

“If I can get a receipt when I drive through an ATM to fill up my car with gas, there’s no reason I shouldn’t be able to get one when I vote,” argued Sen. Rod Smith, D-Gainesville, who also happens to be running for governor.

All of the “paper trail” bills introduced this session died in committee. Florida lawmakers apparently consider touch-screen voting machines tamper-proof.

Somebody ought to tell that to officials in Pennsylvania, California, Iowa and other states that are facing imminent primary elections. Computer scientists say there are security flaws in the popular Diebold Election System touch-screen machines that make them vulnerable to the introduction of software that could distort the results.

“It’s one of the most severe security flaws ever discovered in a voting system,” Michael J. Shamos, computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, told The New York Times recently. Added Douglas W. Jones, another computer science professor, at the University of Iowa, “This is the barn door being wide open, while people were arguing over the lock on the front door.”

Concerns about the integrity of touch screens have been around for a while. But this latest discovery of security problems in Diebold machines comes at the beginning of a busy primary election season. And although Diebold — which calls the problem a “theoretical security vulnerability” -promises to make corrections, some state primaries will occur before machines can be fixed. Indeed, Pennsylvania’s primary has already been held. Florida’s is three months away.

Not to worry, though. Diebold officials say the “theoretical security vulnerability” only exists because voting machines were intentionally designed to allow easy updating by elections officials.

“For there to be a problem here, you’re basically assuming a premise where you have some evil and nefarious elections officials who would sneak in and introduce a piece of software,” Diebold’s spokesman David Bear told the Times. “I don’t believe these evil elections people exist.”

A corrupt public official? Who ever heard of such a thing?

Small wonder the Florida Legislature couldn’t be bothered to mandate paper trails in this state’s touch-screen voting machines.

Why, the likelihood of nefarious elections officials scheming to rig an election in the Sunshine State is probably smaller than the chances of Florida being struck by a hurricane again this year

By the way Ken Blackwell, Ohio’s secretary of state in charge of elections is running for Govenor of Ohio…
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Thanks again Gonzo!

Jet

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

Ohio papers from The right wing Columbus Dispatch to the Cleveland Plain dealer are backing Strictland over Blackwell for Ohio Governor!

Not that that matters since Blackwell already has the poll results from Diebold…

Nancy

Huccome nobody has started a lawsuit to force Blackwell to resign from one or the other citing conflict? Where’s the ACLU, or isn’t this one of their preferred issues, they only defend pedophiles?

http://absent-mind.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

Well Nancy, he claims he sold his stock in Diebold, but I suspect as do other Ohioans that it’s in a blind accouht somewhere being held for him though not in his name.

Every major newspaper and tv station is backing democrate Strickland-as are the polls. If Blackwell wins it’s the most clearcut case for voting fraud there is, considering his connections to Diebold and the Repbulican party.

A survey conducted by the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron shows Strickland leads Blackwell 41 percent to 27 in the general public, with 29 percent of voters still undecided.

For the rest of the article click anywhere in the colored section.

http://jetfireone.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

After Foley, after Frist trying to buy Alaska for $100 a voter, after Abrahmoff, after big oil trying to say they won’t hurt ANWAR then revealing their leaking corroded pipelines…

After Jeb in Florida trying to keep drilling from happening in the western gulf so his beaches won’t get messed up.

After Hastert still denying knowing about Foley 5 or more years after he was told.

After Tom DeLay of Texas and Ney of Ohio…

The only surprise will be Ken Blackwell’s Diebold screwing up and NOT giving the GOP a landslide vidtory in Congress.

…the chief elections official Ken Blackwell is a Republican made many Democrats skeptical of the outcome. They also criticized the fact that the chief executive of the Diebold Inc., which makes many of Ohio’s voting machines, was a Bush supporter…

…Election problem-prone Cuyahoga County, the state’s most populous that includes Cleveland, says it might not be able to finish tabulating the 120,000 to 180,000 absentee ballots it expects by 7:30 p.m. election night because its 50 Diebold Inc. counting machines can scan only 200 pages an hour.

The county, which delayed May primary results six days because it had to hand count 18,000 absentee ballots that were printed wrong, has asked the Secretary of State’s office for permission to begin scanning absentees the Saturday before the election. The votes would not be counted until Election Day when a computer program would tabulate the results from the scanned ballots, said Jane Platten, the Cuyahoga board’s spokeswoman…

* In Ohio, GOP gubernatorial candidate Kenneth Blackwell, trailing by more than 20 points in polls, has accused front-running Democratic Rep. Ted Strickland of protecting a former aide convicted in 1994 on a misdemeanor indecency charge. Blackwell’s campaign also is warning voters through suggestive “push polls” that Strickland failed to support a resolution condemning sex between adults and children; Strickland, a psychiatrist, objected to a line suggesting that sexually abused children could not have healthy relationships when they grew up.

* The Republican Party of Wisconsin distributed a mailing linking Democratic House candidate Steve Kagen to a convicted serial killer and child rapist. The supposed connection: The “bloodthirsty” attorney for the killer had also done legal work for Kagen.

* In the week’s most controversial ad, the Republican National Committee slammed Rep. Harold Ford, D-Tenn., for attending a Playboy-sponsored Super Bowl party. In the ad, a scantily clad white actress winks as she reminisces about good times with Ford, who is black. That ad has been pulled, but the RNC has a new one claiming that Ford “wants to give the abortion pill to schoolchildren.”

For the rest of this article click anywhere in the colored section.

ronnie woods

i’m going to vote for him
stpo hating on ken O.K.

http://jetfireone.blogspot.com/ Jet in Columbus

Sorry Ronnie, but I provide only my opinion here and nothing more, it’s your responsibility to form your own and vote accordingly.

There are too many coincodences and too many people who believe that Bush’s chairman for his reelection, and Secretary of State in charge of elections stole the 2004 election for him to become the governor of Ohio.